Second Time Lucky
by ArtEnchanter
Summary: After her high-school-romance-turned-marriage went wrong, Hermione found herself back living with her parents with no job to speak of. An opportunity arises one day and she becomes Draco Malfoy's personal assistant. It can't be that bad, can it? Modern non-magic AU


A/N: This was originally posted back in 2012 on my AO3, TakesInLight. I was fond of this story and I can't quite remember why I never continued it. I've decided to pick it up again. There were some alterations to the original chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Please favourite and review, it makes my day!

This is an AU set in a world with no magic. It's a modern setting so this includes modern cars, the internet and other such things.

Chapter 1: The Offer

 _To Miss Hermione J. Granger,_

 _After reviewing your application we are sorry to say that –_

She didn't have to read the rest of the letter to know what it said: she didn't get the job. Again.

At twenty years old Hermione Jean Granger felt like a failure – jobless, divorced and living with her parents. It wasn't the ideal situation, ash she always imagined herself in university at her current age and studying something proper like the sciences or law. Instead, she was everything that her sixteen year old self didn't want to be.

It was petty and selfish, but she blamed others for it. At the tender age of eighteen, Hermione was in a strange stage of her life and her present self was blaming her parents for not trying to stop her. However she knew deep in her heart that her parents only complied with her wishes because she took _weeks_ to show them that she was happy and it was what she truly wanted.

She couldn't contain her embarrassment when she had to face her parents two years later and tell them that she regretted it all. It was awful to meet her parents' eyes as they accepted her back into their home.

Because at the age of eighteen, Hermione Granger made a mistake that ruined her life.

During her time at Hogwarts Academy and the attached Hogwarts Sixth Form College, she had a sweetheart. A boyfriend that she was with since she was fifteen – Ron Weasley. He was tall, lanky and freckly with incredibly bright ginger hair and blue eyes that she once spent days dreaming about. He wasn't perfect, however Hermione didn't fool herself with believing that anyone was. At the time, she was just happy someone liked her. She was the last girl in her class to get her first kiss and certainly the last one to lose her virginity – she made Ron wait until their wedding night.

A crush turned into something bigger and by the time that they were seventeen, Ron and Hermione were very much in love. It wasn't much of a surprise that as soon as they both graduated Hogwarts Sixth Form College, the wedding happened. It was big and beautiful and everything was just like Hermione wanted – a perfect wedding for the perfect daughter, Hermione's dad said.

Shame that the two year marriage that followed was anything but perfect.

Hermione's parents spent the money they saved for her university to give their daughter the perfect wedding, at her insistence of course. Not all of it was spent, so what was left went into buying a flat for the newly-weds. Hermione, who was dazed with love and her new husband and _sex_ , didn't think that she would be going to university. Ron got himself a job at a garage and Hermione was the stay-at-home wife who would eventually take care of the children. It was perfect. For a while.

The marriage crumbled into nothingness within two years, with arguments, drinking and _a lot_ of angry sex – followed by more arguments, walking out and tears. It was strange, one minute they were fine and the next all hell would break loose. Their high school love diminished with time and two months ago the divorce papers were finalised. It's been three since Hermione moved back in with her parents.

It's been one and a half since she took a hold of herself and tried to sort out her life.

The first thing on her list was to get a job. So fat, all of her applications were denied. She didn't understand how – her GCSE and A-Level grades were _immaculate._ However something always pushed Hermione's potential bosses away from her. It really bothered her sometimes. What did the others have that she didn't?

Experience. Obviously. Because most people her age were either in university or working for quite a while already. She was neither.

Of course there were other options. She could get an apprenticeship or internship, but for that she would need money upfront to live as apprenticeships didn't pay much and internships were basically free labour. She was in the process of selling the flat her and Ron shared, as her parents at least insisted for that to be purely in her name. However, most of the money from that would go into paying off the mortgage on it and what was left she wouldn't get for a while still. Selling a property wasn't a quick process.

Hermione scrunched up the letter from the potential employer – why did they send a letter anyway? Calling would be easier. She threw the letter into the waste paper bin and with a huff she grabbed her laptop (three years old, a birthday present from her Uncle). She got comfortable on her bed, wanting nothing more than to let off some stream before having to send the next batch of emails with her CV attached in a failed attempt to find a job.

Logging into her Facebook account, she noticed that she had no notifications or friend requests, but one message. It was from Harry Potter – her best friend from Hogwarts.

 _ **Harry Potter (Offline)**_

 _Hey Hermione, fancy hanging out with the old crew tonight? Ron won't be there. Mine at 7pm. You know the place :P_

Hermione smiled at the message. Back at Hogwarts, they were separated into four houses and Harry was a Gryffindor with her. She met him when she was in Year 7, her first year at Hogwarts. He helped her after some bullies brought her to tears. Hogwarts was a prestigious, private Academy and a school mainly for the rich. However, it was known to give out an incredible amount of scholarships. Hermione was one of the people who got a scholarship.

A lot of the rich kids didn't like her. It was like they targeted her for not being rich – something she had no control over. Her parents weren't exactly poor, both of them being dentists, but their wealth felt like spare change in comparison to the families of some people at Hogwarts.

But Harry saved her. Her took care of her and stopped the bullies. He was also how she met the rest of the crew – Neville, Luna, Ginny and…and Ron.

Draco joining them was completely her own doing. He was originally part of the snobs that bullied her at first, but to put it crudely she beat some sense into him. During Year 9, she was forced to work with Draco for a project and he wasn't being very amiable. In the end Hermione had enough and punched him in the nose.

Thus her friendship with Draco Malfoy started and he became a part of their group.

 _ **Hermione Granger (Online)**_

 _Sure. I'm guessing that it won't be all of us regardless of Ron? Either way, see you at 7._

She sent the reply to Harry and moved to relax and browse the web. She still had a long while before she had to get ready to leave, so Hermione spent it browsing the web. She spent an embarrassingly large amount of time on Tumblr and YouTube before moving onto her parents' Netflix and watching a good few episodes of the newest series she was obsessing over.

Soon enough, it was time to get ready. If she didn't look at least half-presentable then Draco would complain all night. Damn that prim and proper tosser.

Rolling out of bed, Hermione went to her wardrobe. Her clothes were half in the wardrobe and half of them still in the suitcase that was stood against the radiator. She took out some jeans and one of her nicer shirts.

A shower, one make up session and a battle with the hair brush later, Hermione was finally ready to go. She grabbed her purse and checked how much money she had and if her Oyster card was in there. Luckily it was in there and she had enough money to purchase a decent bottle of wine as a gift without having to use her bank card.

"Mum, I'm going out to Harry's!" She shouted as she ran down the stairs and out of the door. She didn't have to wait for a reply, regardless of everything that happened her mother still considered Hermione a responsible adult who knew how to take care of herself.

On the way to the tube station, Hermione stopped by Tesco's and picked up a bottle of wine for the hosts. The tube itself was easy enough to navigate, Hermione used to travelling via the London public transport. It didn't get too crowded until they got further into London. She was still incredibly glad once she was out at the Streatham Hill Station and walked up the road to Harry's. The travel was probably the worst part of the night, but at least they weren't going to Draco's. The ponce's parents bought him an apartment overlooking River Thames in Central London for his eighteenth.

Hermione crossed the main road and turned right at the familiar corner shop. Unlike some posh twats that went to her school, Harry didn't live in a massive mansion in the country or a modern apartment that cost more than some people earned in a decade. His house was a normal, very British looking terrace house in Streatham – which wasn't known as the best place to live in London. It wasn't too bad, but rich Hogwarts alumni didn't exactly want to live there.

Hermione went past the gate and noticed some new flowers growing in the garden and the hedge being freshly cut – Ginny probably got Harry to make their front garden look presentable. The two had an on-off relationship since Sixth Form and Harry proposed to her recently. Neither planned on having the wedding anytime soon though, with Ginny trying to make herself big in the sports field and Harry constantly rushing around the country because of the company he inherited from his deceased parents.

She rang the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to open the door. After hearing Ginny's loud ' _Harry get the door!'_ muffled from inside the building, the door opened for her. Harry stood on the other side grinning and immediately gave her a hug.

"Hey there Hermione." He said to her, letting her go. "How are you?"

"I've been better. This is for you, by the way." Hermione confessed as she handed Harry the bottle of wine. She took her shoes off and hanged her bag on the coat hangers. There was a rule during their meetups: anything that will distract you stays in the hallway. That included any sort of mobile phone – unless it was an absolute emergency.

"Thank you. Still not having any luck?" Harry asked as they walked into the living room. Hermione only sighed in response.

"No game tonight?" Asked Hermione, noticing the lack of football on the TV screen. Instead, there was a rerun episode of BBC's TV Series _Sherlock._ Hermione didn't watch it enough of it to call herself a fan, but the snippets that she saw were interesting enough.

"Draco decided to take control of the TV tonight because apparently his ear drums are damaged from me screaming in his ear while cheering." Ginny replied from her seat on the sofa, taking a sip of her drink. Unlike Hermione, she watched every episode of _Sherlock_. "Which is why I will be fangirling rather loudly over Benedict Cumberbatch tonight."

Hermione laughed, scanning the room. Ginny was lounging on the sofa with Harry joining her, while Neville took up one of the bean bags. Luna was probably still in Scotland on a case, being a reported for her dad's newspaper. Shame she couldn't make it, but apparently the article got really interesting really fast. Or at least that's what Luna thought anyway. Most of what 'The Quibbler' wrote was a load of bollocks; entertaining, but still a load of bollocks.

"Hey there Nev." Hermione said, taking a seat in the free armchair. "Where's our resident ponce?"

"Got him to go to the corner shop for some beer and wine." Harry replied. "I'm still shocked that he went, I expected a hissy fit."

"If you want a hissy fit, I can still do one." Came a voice from the hallway, followed by the noise of the door closing. Draco, dressed in an expensive tailored suit, leaned in the doorway to the living room. He looked quite ridiculous holding two blue plastic bags full of alcoholic drinks. It wasn't anything ridiculously strong, as no one seemed in a particular mood to get drunk.

"Please Malfoy, spare us the sight of a grown man wailing like a five year old." Neville retorted. "And pass us the beer."

"Hey Draco!" Ginny called out. "What did the shopkeeper say when you pulled money out of your ass?"

"Very funny Weaselette." The blond drawled, putting the bags down on the coffee table. "Budge up, Potter."

Harry moved up on the three seater so Draco could sit down. The blonde man purposefully tried to take up as much space as possible to irritate the couple next to him. It took nearly a full five minutes for Draco to be seated comfortable, which irritated Ginny as much as the blond hoped. It was enough to get the redhead to force Harry to kick him in the shins.

"That was uncalled for." Draco whined.

"Your ass on the sofa was uncalled for."

"Well tough luck, ginger. I'm not planning on moving." Childishly, he stuck his tongue out at her. Ginny flipped him off on top of sticking her tongue out, which made Neville snort into his beer. Hermione too, had to hide her laughter.

"Right before this escalates any further." Neville said, nearly choking on his beer. "Did someone do anything interesting lately?"

Draco leaned back in his chair, a smug look on his face. "Came back from a business trip to Paris two days ago." He bragged.

"You mean a shopping trip. I bet you got this suit from there too." Hermione said.

"And the shoes." The man added. "Cost a fortune, but so worth it. But seriously, three days in Paris and two and a half were spent listening to old, boring businessmen trying to rip me off. I deserved a trip."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and took a sip of the wine that Harry poured her. She hated the taste of beer, so she avoided it. Besides her, only Draco was drinking wine so far. Ginny would probably join them soon, as she could never say no to a good glass of wine. "How about the rest of you?"

"Not really. The florist shop is slowly getting more recognition. Been swamped with paperwork and Gran is constantly nagging me to visit." Neville set up a florist company with the money he inherited from his parents. It became a chain store rather quickly and 'Longbottom Florists' was slowly becoming a well-known name in the higher society circles.

"Training, that's all." Ginny said honestly. "Game's coming up and coach is complaining a lot about how we can't sip training anymore. I think Wood's just bummed that Harry refused to come back to the team again and he's taking it out on us."

Ginny's football team had Harry for about a year, just after he finished Sixth Form, but he had to leave due to taking over the family company – his aunt and uncle left it to rot and he basically had to build it all from scratch again. It was something he held dear, due to the connection to his late parents. There was no time for football. Even if the team hasn't lost a game since he joined – just like his high school team did.

Harry barked a laugh. "Sounds like Wood alright. Still the same for me. Work, work and work. Then coming home and dealing with Ginny."

"What's that supposed to mean, Potter?"

"Nothing dear." To stop his fiancée from saying anything, he turned to Hermione quickly. "How have you been, Hermione?"

Hermione sank deep into the armchair, shielding her face with the glass of wine. "Don't bother asking," She grumbled. "Jobless and living with my parents. Living the dream, really."

Awkward silence fell between the friends. Neville and Harry were nursing their drinks, not really anywhere specific whilst Ginny just stared away from Hermione's hunched form.

Draco, on the other hand.

"Whoever didn't hire you is a _fucking moron._ "

"Draco!" Hermione squeaked, although she wasn't sure why. She wasn't going to defend those 'fucking morons' as Draco eloquently put it.

"What? It's true." The blond defended himself. "You're the smartest person to graduate Hogwarts. Honestly, you had full marks or nearly that in all your subjects. What else do those morons want from you?"

Hermione didn't reply, her cheeks colouring at Draco's words. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, feeling Draco's eyes on her. She wasn't looking at him.

"Hell, I would hire you in a heartbeat!" Draco continued ranting, knowing that he wouldn't get a reply. Then, he froze for a second at his words.

"Please tell me he's not thinking what I think he's thinking." Ginny groaned, looking at Hermione in a way that clearly said _if it is what I think it is, good luck girl._

"I think I'm thinking what you think I'm thinking." Draco said grinning. "Hermione, I shall hire you as my personal assistant!"

Dumbfounded, Hermione spluttered. "You want me to be your glorified secretary?" She asked after calming down a notch.

" _Personal assistant._ " Draco insisted. "I already have a secretary. As far as I know, there's no free positions for other jobs you'd be great at, but maybe one day. You were always incredibly organised. Of course, you will be paid much more than an assistant usually is and you'll get your own office…would a car and an apartment be too much?" Draco kept rambling about what would be included in her job and all the perks of it. He looked like a five year old who was asked what he wanted for Christmas.

"Not to burst your bubble Draco." Harry finally stopped the blond, before the latter ran out of oxygen while rambling on a single breath. "But I don't think there's anyone in the world qualified enough to deal with your shit."

"Besides, I don't think I trust you enough to let Hermione work with you." Said Neville, with Ginny nodding her head in agreement.

"Oh come on, what other choice do we have? Those idiots won't hire Hermione, as genius as she is. She can't work with Harry because Ron visits way too often. Neville's out too as she knows next to nothing about flowers. Don't get me started on sport."

Hermione smiled sheepishly. All of them remembered that day back in Year Eleven whenshe decided to try out for the school's football team. It was a disaster. The coach – Madam Hooch – probably still remembered it to this day. It was not something that could be easily forgotten.

"I can't believe it, but he has a point." Ginny said, turning to Hermione. "You have no say in this, by the way. It will be good for you to have something to do, even if it is just temporary."

"I gathered."

 _It couldn't be so bad, could it?_ Hermione thought. If anything, she'd have an illustrious recommendation from Draco and working for him would open many doors for her.


End file.
